# Drilling For Oil And The Earth...Harmful Holes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drilling-for-oil-and-the-earth-harmful-holes/454466>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 27, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drilling-for-oil-and-the-earth-harmful-holes/454466 "2008-06-27T17:04:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drilling-for-oil-and-the-earth-harmful-holes/454466/41 "2008-06-29T14:28:26Z")

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[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief]  
I am trying to piece together exactly how this thread is supposed to help the situation. “Honey, I asked the internet, they said you’re wrong and you have to put out now.”

If this actually works, can we work out some sort of temporary swap? Tell her everybody voted on it.  
[/QUOTE]

LOL. Yeah, if it were only that easy. She and I got a little busy last night so I won’t be needing anything until, oh, lunchtime.

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drilling-for-oil-and-the-earth-harmful-holes/454466/42 "2008-06-29T18:05:03Z")

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[QUOTE=Squink]  
Silly me, _of course_ the oil industry subscribes to the same dimensioning philosophy as the lumber industry. :smack:  
Thanks, **FCM** , I did not know that.  
[/QUOTE]  
Well, to be picky, they are 55-gallon _drums_, not barrels. I have wondered from time to time how 42-gallons was arrived at. Always figured it was a standard-sized wooden barrel back in the day.

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**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drilling-for-oil-and-the-earth-harmful-holes/454466/43 "2008-06-29T18:55:48Z")

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Wasn’t this the impetus for an episode of Futurama?

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**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drilling-for-oil-and-the-earth-harmful-holes/454466/44 "2008-06-29T22:08:49Z")

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From Wikipedia:

> [@](#):
>
> The origins of the 42-gallon oil barrel are obscure, but some historical documents indicate that around 1866 early oil producers in Pennsylvania came to the conclusion that shipping oil in a variety of different containers was causing buyer distrust. They decided they needed a standard unit of measure to convince buyers that they were getting a fair volume for their money. They agreed to base this measure on the more-or-less standard 40-gallon whiskey barrel, but added an additional two gallons to ensure that any measurement errors would always be in the buyer’s favor as an additional way of assuring buyer confidence (The same principle as behind the baker’s dozen and some other long units of measure.) By 1872 the standard oil barrel was firmly established as 42 US gallons.

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